Lights, Camera, Language,

Ian Wall, Director of Education, Film Education

What is Film Education?Since 1985 our charity has sought to embed feature film across the curriculum in the UK.We provide: Free Educational Resources & Campaigns Free trips to the cinema & festivals Subsidised Teacher training & workshops

TrainingCurriculum

Trend setting

New technologies

Study materialsStudy guides on individual filmsGeneric Materials (e.g. Shakespeare, History)Digital materialsThe Internet

The InternetDownloadable teaching materials

Newsletter

Cinema events programmes

The reach 2.4m young people in classrooms 475,000 young people in cinemas 50,000+ teachers

CP3CRITICAL PRACTICE

CREATIVE PROCESS

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

AREAS TO ADDRESSWhy study film?What questions do we ask about film?Film and how it communicatesKey ideas about filmThe importance of practical work

Why film?

Supports what is being studied

Worth studying in its own right.

Importance The experience of film goes far beyond the cinema as it

can play a significant role in students‘ social and cultural education.

Many argue that understanding film is essential to literacy in the 21st Century.

Film encourages critical engagement and debate across a wide range of issues and can also give gifted and talented learners a vehicle for their creativity.

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QUESTIONS TO ASK OF A TEXTWhat is the purpose of this text?Who is it for?Why does it look the way it does?Analyse the way it looksWhy was it produced?

Film and MFL

“Alarm over decline in pupils studying languages”

“ Figures show that the take-up of French and German has fallen by 13.2 per cent in the past year to 154,221 and 60,887 respectively. It means fewer than one in four 16-year-olds now take French and one in 10 take German.”

The Independent,Friday 26th August2011

“Pedestrian”

Requirements – A leveldevelop an interest in, and an enthusiasm for,

language learning; develop understanding of the language in a

variety of contexts and genres; communicate confidently, clearly and effectively

in the language for a range of purposes; develop awareness and understanding of the

contemporary society, cultural background and heritage of countries or communities where the language is spoken;

consider their study of the language in a broader context.

Partnership

The ProjectThis project has been ongoing since April 2008LGT have worked with partnerships of schools

across London, Cumbria, Kent and LancashireFilm Education has been instrumental in

developing teaching materials to support MFL teaching.

Aimsto explore what makes students interested in

studying languages to enhance the motivation and aspiration of

studentsto improve their capability in languages to increase participation in MFL at the partner

schools and progression to higher educationto develop a significant role for the use of film

in MFL

To explore how film can offer authentic opportunities for students to think as linguists and to develop practical expertise as well as skills of visual literacy and critical appreciation.

Classroom learning is often at its best when engaging challenging issues and contexts, which make learners question, interrogate, and extend their view of the world.

Conflicts and dilemmas played out in films provide not only the context for learners to immerse themselves in the issues, but also mediate these, offering the opportunity for the teacher to engage in inquiry alongside the learner.

Using film has enabled participating teachers to adopt and adapt the pedagogies of learning about film to the language learning environment to fundamentally change the dynamic of teaching and learning in their subject.

This can sharply contrast with more traditional views of the subject where the teacher transmits knowledge of language and the student‘s role can be largely passive.

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Linguistic benefitsfilm as an enriching and exciting resource. working with students of mixed ability and

working within the limitations of the time constraints.

Students learn to discuss their reactions to the films they are confronted with, required to use a variety of verbs and tenses to justify their opinions.

improved linguistic skills, the student’s textual analysis skills are developed too.

Possible Outcomes Spontaneity in use of spoken language Speed of assimilation of new grammatical structure, ability to perceive

patterns Ability to manipulate recently-learned structures Ability to transfer skills when adapting language to new situations Ability to cross-reference and transfer language and skills Ability to use verbal and non-verbal clues in order to understand

challenging reading and listening material Ability to ask questions about exceptions to the rule or more complex

grammatical queries which have not been addressed in class

Cultural benefits

increased cultural awareness of the students. If children are shown stories about people from different cultural contexts, their horizons will undoubtedly be broadened.  incredibly motivating for the students: they get the chance to see the language in action, in an exciting and interesting context.

So what does this look like?

Learning activities

Tasks might be based on an individual clip or draw on the whole film. Activities offering increasing levels of challenge from the basic to the more advanced + exemplar task materials. Teachers can choose the level of challenge they require.

Film Resources Template

Background of film + synopsis in English and target language

List of characters/actors Introduction of key themes: links to topic coverage at GCSEwider questions, e.g. as a textScreenplay or extracts/transcripts of target

language from specific scenes for activities

Visual Resources

Link to commercial trailer DVDs of complete filmDVD of 5 clips per filmScreenshots relating to sequencing activities,

creative engagement, support familiarity with core vocabulary, compare/contrast

Linguistic Resources

Film specific vocabulary (roughly 2 sides for whole film) – language which might be required to engage with discussion with film + relate to target language

Vocabulary to aid discussion (Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs)

Relevant vocabulary on themes drawn from vocabulary lists provided in Exam Specifications and Student Guides.

Basic language tasks - familiarity with language Drawing on prior knowledge, and vocabulary

and encouraging use and retention of film/extract specific vocabulary

Example activities: descriptions, gap-fills, true or false, word hunts, crosswords, physical description of characters, memory games, Pictionary, predictions, describing stills, compare colloquial language with ‘formal’

Response based tasks – building understanding of contextComparisons, personal response, developing

capacity to narrate events, developing specific language functions and addressing linguistic success criteria for examination

Example activities: card sorts, putting events in order, finding/noticing evidence for statements about film, crosswords, describing still shots from film, film reviews (links to segment on film reviews in target language), their world/my world, trailer-based activities, empathy/point-of-view activities, using target language for creative/critical activities, prediction tasks

Theme based - developing critical awareness and discourse

Discussion of themes – e.g. relationshipssocial/culturalpolitical and historical contextCharacter studiesStudy of language used - register and idiom –

noticings and commentary e.g. formal vs. informal relationships/dialogue

Summarise and précis, taglines and promotional lines

How the film works

Narrative process – making meaningTechniques usedShot typeCamera movementMise en sceneLightingSoundEditing Influences

Productive tasks – examples of exam-type tasks

Basic language tasks Response-based tasks: e.g. compare and

contrast, evidence for statementsCritical awareness and discourse – discussion

of wider contextHow the film works – how effective are the

director’s techniques in the portrayal of the characters? What is your favourite scene/shot in the film and what does this contribute to the whole?

ActivitiesFreeze frameSpot the shotsSound and imageTop (and tail)Attracting Audiences

Mao/Godard in 3DA new way of thinking, teaching and looking

Changes for teachers.develop new pedagogical knowledge and

approaches;develop their knowledge of, and confidence in,

exploring film as a cultural medium;change their expectations of pupils; integrate cultural awareness more effectively

into their teaching.

Impact on students  Improved motivation towards learning

French; Improved attainment in listening, speaking,

reading and writing; Developed interest in film as a cultural form; Developed cultural knowledge; Improved the take-up of French at all levels.

www.filmeducation.org

wall@filmeducation.org